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High 5s: 11/14/12

November 19, 2012

All three of this week's honorees have achieved some sort of first-time stardom this fall, either individually or as a team. And both Carli Snyder and Alex Grace will be back next fall to continue building on these accomplishments. 

Carli Snyder
Macomb Dakota junior
Volleyball

(UPDATED 11/19) Snyder, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter, was an all-stater her first two seasons of high school. But she will be remembered even more for leading Macomb Dakota this fall to its first MHSAA championship in any girls sport. The Cougars defeated Temperance Bedford in three games in Saturday's Class A Final at Kellogg Arena. Snyder unofficially finished this season with 913 kills, good for seventh in the MHSAA record book since the beginning of the rally scoring era in 2004-05. Her 31 kills against Bedford were third-most for a Final during that time. Snyder already has committed to sign with the University of Florida next year. She likely will be among frontrunners for next fall's Miss Volleyball award. 

Title talk: "We wanted this thing so bad. Every girl on this team wanted it so badly. Megan (Manierski) was setting the ball perfectly. She made it very easy to get kills. ... Just talking about this moment, this gym, it makes you just want to play harder than you ever have."

Winning recipe: "We've been a competitive team in practice and in games all year, so I think that helped us at that moment (in three close Finals games) when we just didn't want to lose. We refused to lose. ... We support each other no matter what. And we hustled so hard."

Shake it up: "We have some secret handshakes with other people, but mine are very complex. I don't know how we went about that. Megan and mine is from "Parent Trap," and then Megan Downey and mine, we just made it up at team dinner. We make it a bit more complex than it needs to be, but it's fun. And it's a great thing to calm us down for a game when we've played a bad one before."

Had to be a Gator: "I like warm weather. I love the coaches. I actually called Florida for my recruiting phone call because I was kinda bored one day at home and I was like, 'I got a letter from them.' I fell in love with the coaching staff, and I told my mom that I needed to go on a visit down there. It's incredible, and when I went down there I was even more in love. Even on the phone, I knew this is where I would end up. It's just that feeling. You know when you get that feeling, and it's incredible."

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Alex Grace
Saginaw Swan Valley sophomore
Football

The Vikings' leading rusher is also one of the leading rushers in the state this season heading into Saturday's Division 4 Semifinal against Detroit Country Day. Grace has gained 2,091 yards plus run for 27 touchdowns, and needs only 109 yards and three more scores to make the MHSAA record book in both categories. He ran for 182 yards and three scores in the Vikings' Regional Final win over Croswell-Lexington. Grace took over as Swan Valley's running back this season after the graduation of his brother Johnathan, who rushed for 1,790 yards last season and now plays at Michigan Tech. Both brothers ran on Swan Valley's 400-meter relay that finished runner-up at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Track and Field Final in the spring. Alex is 6-0 and 185 pounds and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds.

I'd like to run like: "Even my brother. I like to look at myself as close to him. Professionally, (Minnesota Vikings back) Adrian Peterson. He's a tough runner, fast. He's strong."

Underdogs again: "The last game against Croswell, they were the No. 2 team and we were predicted to lose. But we came back and beat them. I use that underdog feeling to work harder each day."

Best brotherly advice: "Work hard, and if there are doubters, don't let them get you down."

Science and math: (My favorite classes are) biology and economics. They just come easy to me. I enjoy it."

Click to read more. 

Flint Beecher football

The Buccaneers, coached by former Michigan State and NFL standout Courtney Hawkins, were one of the final teams selected for the playoffs, at 5-4 after a 3-4 start. But Beecher advanced to this week's Division 7 Semifinal against Detroit Loyola by eliminating reigning champion Saginaw Nouvel, 19-15, in last week's Regional championship game. Beecher, now 8-4, has made the playoffs six straight years. The first of that run came in Hawkins' second as coach and after 12 straight losing seasons. 

Click to read more. 

Previous 2012-13 honorees:

Today In The MHSAA

Today in the MHSAA: 1/6/25

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

January 6, 2025

1. WRESTLING Division 3 top-ranked Dundee edged the host and Division 1 top-ranked Shamrocks by six points to win the Detroit Catholic Central Invitational – Monroe News

2. WRESTLING Division 2 No. 3 Freeland won its first Saginaw County championship, with five individual weight-class winners – Bay City Times

3. WRESTLING Division 3 No. 3 Algonac built on three straight runner-up finishes with its first Macomb County Invitational championship – Macomb Daily

4. BOYS BASKETBALL Trey McKenney became Orchard Lake St. Mary’s all-time leading scorer during a 67-52 win over Toledo Whitmer at the Motor City Roundball Classic – Oakland Press

5. COMPETITIVE CHEER Temperance Bedford in Division 1 at Allen Park in Division 2 were champions at the Allen Park Invitational – Southgate News-Herald

6. BOYS BASKETBALL Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice defeated reigning Division 2 champion Warren Lincoln 69-57 at the Motor City Roundball Classic – Oakland Press

7. HOCKEY Division 2 top-ranked Livonia Stevenson defeated Hancock and Houghton to win Houghton’s John MacInnes Hockey Classic for the first time since 1977 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

8. GIRLS BASKETBALL Negaunee defeated Ewen-Trout Creek 47-30 and then Ludington 50-41 to win its Irontown Holiday Bash – Marquette Mining Journal

9. HOCKEY Division 1 top-ranked Detroit Catholic Central increased its winning streak to 33 with a 5-2 victory over Division 3 No. 2 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s – Oakland Press

10. HOCKEY No. 2 Hartland downed No. 5 Clarkston 4-2 in a matchup of Division 1 contenders – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Also of note …

BOYS BASKETBALL Mcrecco Mcfadden became the first Burton Bentley player to score 1,000 career points – WJRT

GIRLS BASKETBALL Averie Zinn joined her older sister Ryleigh by reaching 1,000 career points – WJRT

BOYS BASKETBALL Peyton Ruel went over 1,000 career points although Muskegon Oakridge fell to Whitehall 63-51 – Muskegon Chronicle